All the Devils' hottest news, from notes to numbers to neutral-zone traps

Monday, October 11, 2010

The Devils will face the Pittsburgh Penguins this afernoon at Prudential Center (4 p.m. start) with only 15 skates -- three fewer the the maximum allowed -- because of their salary cap problems.

Defenseman Anton Volchenkov (broken nose) and left wing Brian Rolston (lower body) will be miss the game because of injuries they sustained in Saturday's 7-2 loss in Washington, general manager Lou Lamoriello said.

Left wing Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond will sit out to serve his automatic one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of Saturday's game.

The Devils do not have the salary cap space to add any players today.

"We will be playing with the healthy people we have here," Lamoriello said. "Volchenkov will not play. It's obvious the puck hit his face shield and broke his nose and cut his face. He'll be out today. Rolston has got a lower-body injury. He will be out today. We won't know to what degree that is until after he meets with the doctors today. We'll give you an update later on. Leblond, who was suspended, was put on waivers today."

When I asked Lamoriello if there was any chance Volchenkov sustained a head injury, he sad. "Not to my knowledge." He said both Volchenkov and Rolston are out "day to day".

When I asked Lamoriello if Leblond will be sent down to Albany if he clears waivers without being claimed by another team before noon Tuesday, he replied, "That decision has not been made yet."

Lamoriello said the decision to put Leblond on waivers, "has nothing to do with the other evening."

"It had to do with making a decison as far as whether we add another different type of forward and depending on the injuries," Lamoriello said. "But I didn't like what transpired at the end of the game in that situation. Five minutes left to play, an instigating penalty, you know it's a suspension. And he's going to miss a game. You have to be more intelligent than that."

Playing just the third game of the season with only 15 skaters is an embarrassment for the Devils.

"It's not something we like to see," Lamoriello admitted. "But it is what it is today. That's the way it will be."

Forward Adam Mair has continued to practice with the team though he is unsigned. Lamoriello said it is "a possibility" that Mair will be signed if Leblond is sent down or claimed off waivers by another team before Tuesday's noon deadline, but said nothing has been decided on that yet either.

"Anything is possible," Lamoriello said. "We still are going through a process with Adam. No decisions have been made. If they were, we would have told you, but that is a possibility."

Leblond's three-year contract carries a cap hit of $525,000. It is a two-way deal this year. If he is assigned to the AHL, he would earn $105,000. Because his AHL salary is less than $110,000, the Devils would be able to recall him -- if he is sent down -- without putting him through re-entry waivers.

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.